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Article published In: Journal of Language and Pop Culture
Vol. 1:1 (2025) ► pp.50–72

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Pink rollers and fake tan

Counterhegemonic gender identity in the enregisterment of the Scouse bird persona

 | University of Liverpool
ORCiD logo with link | University of Liverpool
 | University of Liverpool
 | University of Liverpool | University of Oxford
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Liverpool.

Published online: 4 October 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlpop.24011.mon
Abstract
Scouse and Scousers are highly recognisable within the UK, with research revealing longstanding associations with white, urban, working-class male speakers. However, Scouse identity is increasingly associated with a feminine persona: the Scouse bird. Research thus far focuses on recognisable gendered practices of this Scouse feminine identity but has not yet explored the link of such practices with dialect and class. This paper seeks to extend current research by analysing the enregisterment of the Scouse bird on Twitter and in interviews with participants from the Wirral. We take an intersectional approach that factors on gender as a crucial component to understanding the representation of enregistered dialect and class. We propose that the Scouse bird persona may achieve popularity online precisely because of her gender incongruence, which can be viewed as defiance against gender expectations and class hierarchies. We conclude that there are multiple enregistered and intersecting repertoires embedded into the online and offline representation of the Scouse bird, that encompass dialect, (white, working-)class and counterhegemonic femininity.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Scouse, enregisterment and commodity registers
  • 3.The Scouse bird and hegemonic femininity
  • 4.Data and methods
  • 5.“The women are tangoed”: The Scouse bird and femininity
  • 6.“Goin’ from Scouse bird to full on scally”: The Scouse bird and (working-class) masculinity
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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